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Essay / The vision of blindness: sight versus insight in Oedipus the King by Sophocles
"Anyone with common sense will remember that the perplexities of the eye are of two kinds and come from two causes, namely from the coming out of the light or going into the light, which is true for the eye of the spirit, just as much as for the bodily eye and the one who remembers it when he sees someone whose life; vision is perplexed and dim, will not be too ready to laugh; ask whether this man's soul has come out of a brighter life and is unable to see because it is not accustomed to darkness, or whether , having turned from darkness towards day, she is dazzled by an excess of light, she will consider the other as happy in his condition and his state of being, and he will have pity on the other "Say no to. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay (Plato, The Republic) The paradoxical coexistence of blindness and insight is depicted in Sophocles' Oedipus the King, in which Oedipus has a devastating experience. but he redemptively realizes that the “vision” he possesses is nothing but false pride and blindness. Suffering a complete reversal, Oedipus nevertheless retains the courage to actively develop and endure intense suffering in order to achieve extraordinary vision; deliberately grasping the kairos, Oedipus experiences a double ocular perplexity – both physical blindness and, more significantly, spiritual enlightenment, resulting from the fact that he "turned from darkness to day [to be] dazzled by an excess of light” (Plato, The Republic). “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be plunged into darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! » (Matthew 6:22-23). "Oedipus's eyes are evil" and daylight proves blinding – not because of its brightness, but because it distracts attention. Oedipus' eyes of any other light, especially the potential light from within; Oedipus is satisfied with what he perceives as his vision, which is in reality nothing more than an incomplete logos facilitated by techne. Believing his knowledge and rationalism to be complete, he proclaims: "I, / Oedipus the ignorant... stopped [the sphinx] -/ using thought" (401-402). Meanwhile, Oedipus unconsciously represses the lingering shadow of the prophecy, because the heinous transgressions of parricide and incest are incongruous with his conception of his ideal self, and therefore uncomfortable and even frightening. Time and circumstances seem to obscure the prophecy and confirm it. the "vision" of Oedipus, he remains ignorant of his ignorance. In the eyes of his people and himself, he is the model of virtue, a wise and noble king, Oedipus' incomplete knowledge contributes to. his hamartia, engendering pride and leading him to declare: “But I who consider myself the child of chance,/the giver of good, I will never know dishonor” (1085-1086 “Pride). [is] directed towards the good of his polis" (Bull, 6) of Oedipus, this also gives him the irrational frankness which allows him to attack the truth, wrongly and ironically accusing Teiresias of being "the child of the endless night,” (379) “blind in [his] ears, [his] reason and [his] eyes (376). Teiresias's accusations motivate Oedipus to seek the truth, and after "his intensive interrogation of three witnesses" (Roochnik, 11), the truth of the prophecy becomes clear. Oedipus is determined to know the truth and to know himself, even if it means his downfall. With realization, Oedipus sees his lack of vision and the irony of his condemnation: "And it is I/ who,]")